Bishop Donal Murray who died on August 14th, aged 81, left behind a solid record of achievement in his former diocese of Makurdi in Nigeria.
In the past, many Irish parishes had cause to be grateful to dynamic parish priests who built schools, hospitals and community halls and organised basic social services. Bishop Murray was like that, but on a grander geographical scale.
He was born to Michael and Ellen (Nellie, nee Portley) Murray, of Catherine Street, Limerick, in February, 1918. His father had a successful career in the bacon industry and was secretary of the Bacon Company of Ireland when he retired.
He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Sexton Street, Limerick. At one point he thought of joining the order and entered the Juniorate of the Christian Brothers in Cheshire.
He changed course, however, and was ordained to the priesthood in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost in 1946.
His first appointment was to Otukpo (part of the same archdiocese as Makurdi) in Nigeria. He returned to Ireland to study at UCD and, after his graduation, he went back to Nigeria, to the diocese of Makurdi, where he specialised in education.
This perhaps, is to understate the dynamism he displayed then and later. For instance, he established St Augustine's Teacher Training College in Lafia which provided the diocese of Makurdi with a powerful tool for evangelization.
In 1968 he was consecrated bishop of the diocese, and his great period of achievement began. He had cottage hospitals and health clinics built throughout the diocese, as well as secondary schools at strategic points.
He was strongly committed to the religious life. To foster vocations he invited other religious orders to the diocese. He had the unusual distinction of having established an order of nuns - the Sisters of the Nativity.
All these endeavours, of course, cost a great deal of money and he raised much of it through the World Mercy charity. His work for the charity brought him to the United States and into contact with the singer Frank Sinatra and his wife Barbara who became friends.
He achieved all this despite ill-health and remained as bishop of the diocese until 1989.
His bishopric did not involve him directly in the Biafran war because of his diocese's location in northern Nigeria - but he gave refuge to many priests, at least one of whom credited him with saving his life.
When he retired he took up the position of chaplain to St Mary's Centre for the Visually Impaired run by the Sisters of Charity on the Merrion Road, Dublin.
Retired he may have been, but he was quite prepared to come out fighting in defence of his church. When a contributor to The Irish Times suggested three years ago that priestly celibacy is disregarded in the Third World he wrote a robust letter in reply. "I spent 43 years of my life as a missionary in Nigeria. For 21 of these years, I was bishop of a Nigerian diocese. I knew the people, I knew my priests and I knew the language. I know from experience that this statement is false. That the statement is based on anecdotes makes it malicious. I can say that there were some failures, but very few. The clergy I knew were second to none," he wrote.
He is survived by his sister Brigid and brothers Brendan, Cecil, Hubert, Michael, Niall and William.
Bishop Donal Murray: born 1918; died August 1999